Today in school, a little boy comes up to me and shows me his new batman watch that lights up. He was super excited about it, and then he asked me to tell him what time it was. It made me think about when I was learning how to tell time, and how long it took for me to be able to look at a clock and instinctively know what time it was. Therefore for my third post, I am going to be exploring how to tell time and activities and worksheets that help students learn.
For learning how to tell time, children need to understand that the numbers have two meanings depending on if the big hand or the little hand is pointing to it, and they also need to be able to count by fives.
This video is great at explaining how to tell time. Learn How To Tell Time
This is a fun game that I found on Education.com that asks students to find a certain time clock. This game gets students started at looking for the time on the clock and can even give them hints if they get stuck. You can assign students to do this at home, or even have students play in the classroom if you have a computer or SmartBoard.
For learning how to tell time, children need to understand that the numbers have two meanings depending on if the big hand or the little hand is pointing to it, and they also need to be able to count by fives.
This video is great at explaining how to tell time. Learn How To Tell Time
This is a fun game that I found on Education.com that asks students to find a certain time clock. This game gets students started at looking for the time on the clock and can even give them hints if they get stuck. You can assign students to do this at home, or even have students play in the classroom if you have a computer or SmartBoard.
Hi Freddie! I really enjoyed your post this week. I feel like in the digital age there are many kids that could have missed learning to tell time on an analog clock. The video was excellent and could be a good introduction to use in for the class to watch on the smart board. I have seen Judy Clocks (one big one to show the children and it also had the minutes listed around the clock and several small ones for students). These are helpful and hands on and might be the step before children drawing the hour and minute hands on a clock worksheet.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I thought was very helpful about the video was that it showed how to tell time when the hour hand is between two hours on the clock. I think this is what children sometimes get tricked by. I worked with children in the past that needed a lot of practice with this and even though they would learn to identify time on a clock, when given the digital time (Such as 8:45) and asked to draw the hands on a blank clock students still pointed the hour hand directly at the 8 instead of between the 8 and 9.
I think this activity is definitely useful for math and can be tied in to other lessons. The first topic that comes to mind is skip counting by fives.
I worked with a student a few years ago that relied on a visual schedule for each day. After each activity, he would remove the laminated picture (velcro on back) and move it to the back of the clip board. The student was also learning to tell time on an analog clock. The picture schedule pictures of had clocks added to it to correspond with the time of each activity. It also served as a review. For example if the student asked "Is it time for Lunch yet?" Adult could respond: Tell me what time the clock on the wall says... (then student answers 12:00) Well what time does lunch start on your schedule? (Student checks clock picture on schedule and answers 12:00) So it is time for lunch. Student can be asked at times of activity change also.
I enjoyed your story and post. Nice job. I look forward to reading more in the future.
Susan
Hi Freddie,
ReplyDeleteGreat lesson and super relevant for students to learn at a young age! The video was very useful, and I agree with Susan that it's important to understand the time when the hour hand is between two hours on the clock. This concept is often difficult for young students to grasp right away, and is something that they need practice with.
Your lesson reminded me of several of my preschool students. Everyday, we have two 30 minute periods set aside for the gym area. My preschoolers cannot wait for gym time everyday - and constantly ask how much longer we have until it is our gym time. This got me thinking about clocks, telling time, and how to explain it to students. When we're in the gym, there are really limited toys for all the kids to use and not enough of one thing to go around. So, the students usually have to share. I've gotten into the habit of telling students "once X has this toy for 5 minutes, then he'll share with Y." But students don't really understand the concept of minutes and how long a minute actually is. So, what I've been trying to do is tell them to look at the clock. Instead of just saying that they need to share with a friend in five minutes, I'll say "when the big hand on the clock moves from the 5 to the 6, that means five minutes have passed, and that means you have to share your toy."
While it's a really simple task, it has really started to help my preschoolers understand the concept of time, and that the hands on the clock help decipher what time it is. They've begun to repeat on their own to their fellow students "When the clock goes on the 6, you have to share your toy with me."
Interesting and fun concept - thanks for sharing!